In Yu’s Reincarnation Stories: The Saga of Princess Jieyou we were initially unsure how to handle the part about Liu Ye's inner conflict over the princess, so we discussed it with Yu Menglong's team. In what follows, "Yu" refers to Yu's team (all Main Souls and Secondary Souls — the different past-life aspects that together make up Yu Menglong).

Ariel: Is it really appropriate to write this part?

Yu: This all happened thousands of years ago, and besides, it's a true event. I think it's appropriate.

Ariel: Are you sure your fans won't have concerns?

Yu: My Lemons ["Lemon" refers to Yu's supporters. In Chinese, the word for lemon (柠檬, níngméng) contains the character "Meng" (檬), which has the same pronunciation as the "Meng" in Yu Menglong's name.] have good taste and broad-mindedness.

Ariel: Should we reconsider it?

Yu: Princess Jieyou (a Han-dynasty princess sent to marry the king of the Wusun kingdom to seal a diplomatic alliance) is one of Ariel's Secondary Souls — this isn't a modern-day situation, so no one needs to worry about it, and besides, it happened thousands of years ago.

Yu Qian: Um, Liu Ye was my past life — it has nothing to do with the other Yus~ Actually, looking back at this part of my life journey now, it feels like watching someone else's story.

Yu: In order to fulfill our missions, throughout the cycle of reincarnation everyone forms connections with each other in all kinds of forms: parent and child, husband and wife, lovers, siblings, friends, relatives, and so on. To me, every form is the same. Does that mean that as long as a connection might make someone uncomfortable, that piece of history can't be written at all?

Ariel: Then maybe we could trim down the part about Liu Ye's emotional conflict?

Yu En: I can't cut it — not writing it would be unfair to Liu Ye.

Li Fu: As a court historian, one should record history sincerely, objectively, and faithfully — regardless of public opinion or pressure, history should be restored to its true form. Both you and Yu En play the role of historians in your stories. The historical records faithfully written by my past-life self, Chang Qun (a court scribe serving Princess Xijun — an earlier Han princess also sent to marry a Wusun king, predecessor to Princess Jieyou), were later altered by Ban Gu (a renowned Han-dynasty historian). I still feel regret about that to this day.

Ariel: True — if we cut that part, we wouldn't be able to see what kind of person Liu Ye was, or what kind of person Wengguimi was. Aristotle's Poetics (a classic that has influenced Western literary creation for over two thousand years) once said that a character's "character" is revealed through the "choices" they make — the choice itself reveals the character's moral orientation. And the portrayal of inner emotion exists to build up to the moment of that choice, so as to accurately depict the character.

Yu: Actually, the greatest playwright of all is the divine. The scripts of our lives across the cycles of reincarnation were actually written by the divine power that arranges our fates — perhaps so that they could one day be used to awaken the world. I hope everyone can focus their attention on my reincarnation stories on the values behind the characters' choices, rather than on the relationships between the characters.

Ariel: You're right — I should reflect on this myself.

P.S. If you don't know who Yu Qian or Li Fu are, please see "Yu's Team Daily Life: The Yus We Know".

#Incarnation#YuMenglong